nocache can be useful in related scenarios, when we operate on very large files just a single time, e.g. a backup job. It advises the kernel that no caching is required for the involved files, so our current file cache is not erased, potentially decreasing performance on other, more typical file I/O, e.g. on a desktop.

"That's it. Not much to see here. The first command writes any cache data that hasn't been written to the disk out to the disk. The second command tells the kernel to drop what's cached. Not much to it. This invalidates the write cache as well as the read cache, which is why we have the sync command first. Supposedly, it is possible to have some cached write data never make it to disk, so use it with caution, and NEVER do it on a production server. You could ... but why take the risk?

Ever gone to a site that has an MP3 embedded into a pesky flash player, but no download link? Well, this one-liner will yank the names of those tunes straight out of FF's cache in a nice, easy to read list. What you do with them after that is *ahem* no concern of mine. ;)